Up All Night

Written by Saturday Night Live's Emily Spivey, executive produced by Lorne Michaels, and directed by James Griffiths (Episodes), Reagan and Chris are about to find out whether it's really possible to have it all.

TIMESLOT

Wednesdays @ 8:30pm on NBC.

SYNOPSIS

From Emily Spivey (NBC's "Parks and Recreation," NBC's "Saturday Night Live") and legendary Emmy Award-winning producer Lorne Michaels, comes "Up All Night," a modern take on parenthood that shows the challenges of balancing a career, marriage and a new baby. Christina Applegate ("Samantha Who?") stars as Reagan, a successful public relations executive, and Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") plays Chris, Reagan's supportive, stay-at-home husband. The two have just become parents – a surprise that has set their lives on a new path as responsible adults -- for the most part. Maya Rudolph ("Saturday Night Live," "Bridesmaids") stars as Ava, Reagan's outlandish boss and best friend, whose whirlwind social escapades serve as constant reminders of Reagan's former carefree life. James Pumphrey ("High Road") portrays Brian, Reagan's socially awkward hipster assistant.

"Up All Night" is a production of Universal Media Studios and Broadway Video. Spivey is the creator and serves as executive producer along with Michaels and Jon Pollack (NBC's "30 Rock").

REVIEWS

I like Christina Applegate, I really like Maya Rudolph and I really really like Will Arnett, so I really really really want to like this show. Really.

I’m going to chalk the pilot up to a condition a lot of pilot episodes have: Trying-too-hard-itis. (A full season pickup is the usual antidote.) There’s a little too much of an “Oh my God, we’re parents!” desperation to both Reagan (Applegate) and Chris (Arnett), but they’ll hopefully move past that fairly quickly. Maya Rudolph’s Ava is a little too crazy-with-a-K wacky (reminding me of Allison Janney’s character on last year’s Mr. Sunshine…and not in a good way), but I’m hoping they’ll all settle down a little once they get to know who their characters are.

Although the stars are doing interviews that stress that it’s not about the baby, it actually is quite a bit about the baby, not that there’s anything wrong with that. The baby is cute as a button, and there’s a really nice scene where Reagan is talking to little Amy and it’s not corny or schmaltzy. It’s a scene I think a lot of parents will relate to.

Applegate and Arnett have both had their share of sitcom bombs in the past few years, but this could be the one that works for them—if, as I say, they can settle down. SNL’s Lorne Michaels is behind this show, and NBC seems to have a lot of patience for his productions (30 Rock, which is going into its sixth season, despite never earning great ratings). With some patience (from the network AND the audience), this could be the hit these stars are looking for.

Rating: There's a great future for this show!

About Gordon McDougallTVGord is a radio host at 580 CFRA in Ottawa. He does a weekly segment about TV every friday which you can hear in MP3 in the '580 CFRA Interviews' section of their website, www.cfra.com